Jonathon, is there any connection between Billericay in England and
Billerica [bIl 'rIk@] in Massachusetts, USA?
-Wilson
On 1/23/07, Jonathon Green <slang at abecedary.net> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Jonathon Green <slang at ABECEDARY.NET>
> Subject: Re: British "geezer" = American "gangster"?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Mike Speriosu wrote:
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> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Mike Speriosu <speriosu at STANFORD.EDU>
> > Subject: British "geezer" = American "gangster"?
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > While listening to a song by a recent British rap group called The
> > Streets, I came across an instance of the word "geezer" that does not
> > seem to mean "old man" in any way. Here are some lyrics from the song
> > "Geezers Need Excitement":
> >
> > Geezers need excitement
> > If their lives don't provide them this they incite violence
> > Common sense, simple common sense
> > ...
> > Geezers looking ordinary and a few looking leary
> > Chips fly round the sound of the latest chart entry
> >
> > And here are some lyrics from another song of theirs, "Who Got the Funk?":
> >
> > Geezers geezers geezers
> > Who got the funk?
> > Original pirate material
> > Day in the life of a geezer
> > Crispy, rosco, England's glory
> > Uniq, locked on, Andy Lewis
> >
> > All Birmingham geezers
> > All London heads
> > Barnet, Brixton, Beckenham
> > You're listening to The Streets
> > Original pirate material
> >
> > It seems to me (and the American friend who showed me these songs
> > agreed) that "geezer" is used here to mean what we call a "gangster".
> > Has anyone ever heard of this usage?
> >
> > I looked up "geezer" in the OED and found that it does not necessarily
> > always mean "old man". Some of the examples even suggest this "gangster"
> > usage:
> >
> > "A geezer can't have an alibi for every minute of the day." (Greene,
> > 1938)
> > "There's a geezer I know named Twisty Dodds, kind of a small-time
> > crook you might call him." (Symons, 1958)
> >
> > It also seems possible that the term might sometimes be used in a much
> > broader sense, along the lines of "chap" or "bloke", or perhaps "dude"
> > in the American sense.
> >
> > Ideas?
> >
> > Mike Speriosu
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org> >
> >
> No, a geezer is not a gangster. The Streets (one person rather than a
> group, as it happens) is very much into charting the life of . .. a
> geezer, in other words, an ordinary bloke. A gangster might be also be a
> geezer, and quite possible referred to as such by by his fellow geezers,
> and indeed gangsters (hence the OED cites), but geezer doesn't mean
> gangster as such. As you suggest in your final par, it means a 'chap' or
> 'bloke'. The image is usually working-class, probably London or the
> Cockney colonies of Essex, and could be, but doesn't have to be a bit of
> a Jack the Lad. For echt-geezer-dom I recommend the lyrics of the late
> and quite irreplacable Ian Dury. Those of 'Billericay Dickie' being
> especially indicative of the type. So, there you are. Orright, my son?
> As geezers are wont to say amongst themselves.
>> JG
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